Week 9: Book in a Box

Planning and Preparation: In week I wanted to watch another video in the self publishing website. In order to do this I loaded the video on an open tab on my laptop and on my iPhone. This was key, as if I had wifi and some waiting time, I could watch some of the video during my waiting time. 

Implementation: I incorporated two things that James Clear, http://jamesclear.com/, wrote about creativity on his blog. First was to stick to a schedule, so I scheduled a specific time outside of waiting times in order to devote to my task. Second, I implemented the 2-minute rule. This rule states that instead of focusing on the the whole process of completing a task, only focus on the first two minutes of initiating the task. James wrote a quick and insightful read about this in PDF book about creativity. You can download it from the url that I inserted above. 

Reflection: This week I had the pleasure to learn from Zach Obront, http://bookinabox.com/, one of the co-founders of the Book In A Box (BIAB). He gave an outline of how his company helps individuals write their non-fiction books in half the time. It was quite informative, as it broke down step by step how to write a non-fiction book. Here is a basic outline of what I learned:

Step 1: Purpose and Audience

The first step is the ask three questions about why you are writing the book. First, what are your personal goals for writing the book? Second, what audience do you need to reach to accomplish this goal? Third, what book idea serves the purpose of answering the first two questions. 

It is vital to know the WHY you are writing the book, as this will help you outline your book and get it to the individuals that want it most. 

Step 2: Outline

A. Create a skeleton with chapters and their respective title.

B. For each chapter, create the major or sub points. Then the questions or prompts that lead you to explaining the main points. Lastly, any supporting points. 

Step 3: Structure the Intro

This step is by far one of the most important parts  of writing your book. 

A. nail the hook by saying something bold or telling a bold story. 

B. Pain/pleasure orientation: Tie the hook back to the premise of the book and explain the negatives of not following your advice vs the positives from the benefits gained if you did follow your advice. 

C. Identify what they will learn. 

Step 4: Structuring Interior Chapters

A. Each chapter will have a clear goal of what your teaching the reader. 

B. Clearly explain the steps needed to accomplish goal.

Step 5: Structuring the Conclusion

A. Recap the main points and learnings.

B. Have a call to arms or identify what they can now do after reading your book. 

C. Add some additional food for thought for the reader. 

Step 6: Record your Content

A. Record an actual conversation of you explaining each chapter to a friend.

Step 7: Translate your Recording

A. Transcribe your interviews. Use rev, https://www.rev.com/, to turn your recording into a physical document. Rev costs about 1$/minute. Can do this yourself, but worth the price if you can get it transcribed. 

Step 8: Hire an Editor

A. Find a great editor with good work experience. Some good sites are Upwork, https://www.upwork.com/, and Elance, https://www.elance.com/. 

B. Explain clearly to them that the job is neither ghost writing (where they have to come up with ideas) or editing (just grammar and flow). 

Step 9: Edit your Manuscript

A. Fist pass, just for content. Ask, what is the point I am trying to make? Is it clear? Is it simple as possible?

B. Second pass just for style. PRINTOUT AND READ IT OUT LOUD.

Learning: This week I was able to implement the idea of setting a clear schedule for completing my task, and it helped as it did not take any will power to decide if I should do it or not. We all start with a set amount of will power everyday, and setting a schedule to complete tasks of our choice in advance saves it for other important parts of our daily lives. 

In addition, I learned this week that difficult things always seem overwhelming at first, but become more manageable once you invest in researching about them. I am now in week 9 and honestly did not have a clear idea of how to put all my ideas into a book. After the work in the previous 8 weeks and the learnings from Zach, I have a better sense of how I can do this. The moral of the story is that things will always seem too big or complex, until we learn about them and break them into manageable parts.